1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical assembly having an electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction system and an electrical component, and also relates to the EMI reduction system, which has an EMI reduction element and a protection element.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical components are oftentimes housed in enclosures, and the electrical components typically emit electromagnetic interference (EMI) that escapes the enclosures. The EMI that escapes from the enclosure oftentimes interferes with adjacent electrical components and can reduce the performance of the adjacent components. Examples of components that emit EMI include the CT 410 and CT 810 servers that are manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc. These servers are housed in an enclosure, such as the CT 1600 chassis, also manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
To address the issue of EMI escaping from the enclosures, reduction elements are secured to the electrical component. To adequately prevent EMI from escaping, the reduction elements should be grounded. Grounding is accomplished by having the reduction elements abut the walls of the enclosure. Thus, when the EMI reduction elements are properly grounded, the reduction elements prevent the EMI that is produced by the electrical component from escaping the enclosure. Although this addresses the problem of EMI escaping from the enclosure, it introduces another problem.
When the electrical components are inserted into and/or removed from the enclosure, walls of the enclosure oftentimes tear or shear off the reduction elements. This undesirable tearing requires new EMI reduction elements to be secured to the electrical components, resulting in extra man-hours and material cost to manufacture and/or maintain the electrical assembly.
Thus, there remains a need for an electrical assembly in which the EMI reduction element is not torn or sheared off of the electrical component to which the reduction element is secured, when the electrical component is inserted into and/or removed from an enclosure.
The present invention addresses the shortcomings of prior electrical assemblies by the use of a protection element. The protection element prevents the enclosure from tearing or shearing the reduction element when the electrical component is inserted into or removed from the enclosure.
One embodiment of the present invention includes an electrical component that has a distal end, and an EMI reduction element that has a height and a distal side. The EMI reduction element is secured to the electrical component. The embodiment also includes at least one protection element. The protection element includes a middle portion that has a maximum height. The maximum height is based on the height of the EMI reduction element, and is preferably about 30% to about 50% of the reduction element height. The at least one protection element is secured to the electrical component and is positioned adjacent to the EMI reduction element so that the middle portion is closer to the distal end of the electrical component than the distal side of the EMI reduction element.
In this manner, when the electrical component is inserted into the enclosure, walls of the enclosure first contact the middle portion of the protection element. The maximum height is based on the height of the reduction element so that the height is high enough to prevent tearing and/or shearing of the reduction element, but not too high to prevent the reduction element from contacting the enclosure. The protection element deflects the enclosure walls away from those portions of the reduction element that are secured to an outer surface of the electrical component. This prevents the undesirable tearing and shearing of the reduction element.
In another embodiment, the EMI reduction element also includes a proximal side, and the protection element is positioned axially adjacent to the reduction element so that the middle portion of the protection element is closer to the proximal and distal ends of the electrical component than the distal and proximal sides of the reduction element. In this manner, the enclosure will contact the protection element before the reduction element during both insertion and removal of the electrical component from the enclosure. Thus, the protection element will prevent tearing and shearing of the reduction element during both insertion and removal of the electrical component from the enclosure.
In yet another embodiment, the protection element also includes proximal and distal portions that are integral with the middle portion. The proximal portion and the distal portion each has a top edge that forms an angle between the top edge and an outer surface of the electrical component. In this manner, the height of the proximal and distal portions taper up from a smaller height, at ends of the proximal and distal portions, to the maximum height, at inner sections of the proximal and distal portions. This facilitates electrical component insertion and removal because, instead of an abrupt change in height, which can impede electrical component insertion and removal, the angled configuration allows the enclosure walls to slide up the distal portion during insertion, and to slide up the proximal portion during removal.
A more complete understanding of the electrical assembly will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages and objects thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings which will first be described briefly.